Twitter has suspended the account dedicated to tracking the activity of Elon Musk's private jet, even after the billionaire promised to leave it alone as part of his alleged "commitment to free speech." It comes as the latest in a lengthy line of controversies that have become a staple of Musk's brief tenure as the owner of Twitter.
Elon Musk has had a less-than-ideal week that has culminated with Bernard Arnault snatching the title of world's richest man away from the new owner of Twitter. If Musk had then hoped to find solace among Dave Chappelle fans at a San Francisco show last week, the crowd booing him for at least several minutes was far from the warmest welcome. Despite claims from Musk that he is trying to prevent child exploitation on Twitter, recent layoffs have decimated the team that was previously dedicated to handling it. A forecast now projects that Musk's takeover will act as the genesis for approximately 32 million users leaving the platform over the next two years, a prediction that has come true to the detriment of the gaming world, which lost content curator Nibellion only a few weeks ago.
In direct contradiction to his stated positions, Musk's Twitter has permanently suspended the Elonjet account that tracked the location of the billionaire's jet, as noted by Donie O'Sullivan, a correspondent for CNN who covers both politics and technology. The first tweet by O'Sullivan displayed the ban, followed up with a reminder that "[Elon Musk] said his not banning the [Elon Jet] was an example of his commitment to free speech." The statement being referred to from Musk claimed that he would not ban the "account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk." Last month, impersonators of Musk threatened his ideal implementation of free speech to such an extent that he banned users from changing their names, causing frustration among Valorant and League of Legends professionals.
No reasoning has been offered as to why the account was banned just over a month after this tweet, and O'Sullivan provided further information that confirmed the Elonjet Facebook account was still operational. The move is rather surprising given that the information being collated by Elonjet was publicly available, and although an argument could be made that the account violated Twitter's Terms of Service, Musk essentially waved that reasoning away once he tried to use its existence to his benefit. It does little to quell fears regarding the stability of Twitter, which prompted Genshin Impact players who signed up through the platform to connect to HoYoverse with their email instead.
Twitter is a rather important resource for the gaming industry, which often sees announcements, news, and discourse permeate the platform daily. The mere event of Elden Ring trending on the social media site can whip up fans and commentators into a frenzy, desperate to determine what information is being disseminated. Given the utility for smaller developers and studios to promote their projects, the hope for calm persists despite Musk's insistence to crush it.